


Don't Touch the Teddy

by PotatoesOfWorldlyDesire



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017), Riverdale (TV 2017) RPF
Genre: 70s Logic, F/M, Funny, Halloween, Haunted House, Horror, Satan's Teddy Bear, Spooky, bughead - Freeform, varchie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 12:02:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14748491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotatoesOfWorldlyDesire/pseuds/PotatoesOfWorldlyDesire
Summary: What happens when Hiram Lodge acquires a new mansion on the coast? He invites the kids to explore it. But, the house harbours a dark secret- what will happen when Betty comes into contact with a teddy bear most likely possessed by Satan? Read to find out.





	Don't Touch the Teddy

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of a storyline from Life with Archie #125, from September 1972. A lot of the dialogue and text is lifted from the story, but some of this is also my writing, with the characters from Riverdale. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think.

The long limousine purred luxuriously toward the coast, there they- Betty, Jughead, Veronica, and Archie- had all been invited to view Hiram Lodge's latest acquisition...

'Wow Ronnie, how many houses does your father own now?' Betty asked.

'Not too many, surprisingly.'

'Hiram sells as many as he buys...' Jughead piped up from next to Betty. There was a moment of unspoken tension before Veronica continued,

'Yes, Jughead. As soon as he can do so at a profit.' Veronica smiled and looked out the window. 'Daddy is an excellent businessman, after all.'

'It sure was nice of Mr Lodge to invite us to take a peek at this new place of his, though.' Archie grinned.

'Who doesn't enjoy prowling through big, old mansions?' Jughead grinned, his arm slipping around Betty's shoulder as the mansion in question came into view.

It was big, all right. Old, and obscenely ugly- it seemed to squat like a giant, bloated toad; overlooking the endless sea some hundred feet below a cliff. The mansion was all grey and green slate and mossy bricks. The limousine pulled up and the driver had to enlist the help of Archie and Jughead to pull the gates open and allow the car through, as though the place knew it had visitors and it didn't want them there. 

'The horror...' Jughead murmured in Betty's ear when they got back into the car. She giggled and looked out over the ocean, which reflected the foreboding, dour grey of the sky above. 

She squeezed his hand as the front doors were opened for the group, and they walked into the dusty main hall of the mansion. 

Even by daylight, it's cobwebbed interior had a haunting atmosphere. It was a home with a built-in shudder, full of mystery creaking. The red-painted walls seemed to breathe 'get out' from behind centuries worth of dust. 

'Nice place.' Archie said, running his finger along a tabletop and observing the dust. 'How long do you think it'll take your dad to fix her up?'

'Not long. Daddy's a pro at this by now.'

'It's so... Eerie.' Betty said, shivering next to Jughead, whose arm instinctively wrapped around her. 

'Haunting,' He agreed, 'Or haunted?'

'That's why daddy got it so cheap! Once he's brightened it up a bit it'll fetch a pretty decent price.'

It was undaunted by dust or demons that the group fanned out to look at all the old things that littered the home. Oppressive, unearthly silence clung to each of them, like a shroud. The occasional creaking of the old walls had all the effect of a gunshot on Betty, who jumped at the slightest of noises, much to everyone's amusement. 

'There's nothing to be afraid of,' Jughead comforted her quietly, after a particularly loud creak caused her to jump and nearly knock over a cabinet of dusty old porcelain dolls.

'I just hate places like this.'

'It is kind of like the set of a horror movie.' Nodded Veronica, studying a few of the dolls. One had a lazy eye that seemed to follow the group around the hall and up the stairs.

The whisper of wind through a drafty old chimney sounded like a soul in torment, but still the group carried on up the stairs, swallowing what they thought was primal fear. 

'Let's start from the top and work our way down?' Jughead suggested, looking at an old face gazing out from an equally decrepit portrait. 

'Sounds good.' Betty smiled weakly as another loud groan of wind echoed through the halls. 'But, uh, let's stick together- okay?'

'Of course, Juliet.' Jughead offered his arm once again for her to link. 

Veronica took Archie's hand and led the group to the uppermost floor of the house. The only thing visible from the windows was the ocean, and that was after years worth of grime and neglect was rubbed away. The last room on the left side of the corridor was where the exploration stopped being a game.

'Oh! An unused set from The Exorcist!' Jughead smirked. 

'Don't be silly, it's a nursery!' Veronica admonished, walking over to the bed and sitting down, causing a hurricane of dust to puff up. 

It was Betty who saw it first. 

She picked it up- a small satin teddy-bear. It was smiled crudely and looked like it was held together by hand-sewn stitches and sheer force of will. The moment her hands made contact with it, a clammy cold settled into the room, clutching at the teens like the fingers of death itself. 

'Betty?' Jughead gently touched her shoulder but received no response. 'Betts?'

'Archie- look- her eyes!' Veronica gasped. 

Moments before, Betty's eyes had been their typical blue-green. Now, they were perfectly white. Blank. Her pupils seemed too large, and there was something hollow within them- Betty was there, but no-one was home. Glazed and lifeless, her hands clutched the teddy so tightly that they turned white, as she moved towards the window and a seemingly impossible gust of wind forced it open.

'Archie! Stop her! She's going to-' Veronica rushed forward and, with the help of Archie and Jughead, stop Betty from stepping out of the window. The teddy fell onto the floor as they pinned her to the ground- Betty blinked once, and her eyes were back to normal. She stopped struggling and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. 

'W-what happened?'

'You went full 'girl from The Ring' on us, Betty.' Jughead looked at her with worry in his eyes as he joked weakly, 'Never go full 'girl from The Ring'.' 

Betty frowned, her gaze tracking from the furrowed brows of her friends to where the teddy was lying still on the floor, like it was trying to play innocent. There was something Satanic in its sweet smile, as though it were not worried about such a temporary setback. Betty started shaking as she looked at it. 

'I want to go now.' She got up and walked out of the room, followed by a worried and pensive-looking Jughead. Veronica and Archie could only stare at the bear. It didn't look like anything other than a child's plaything, but some deeper instinct told them that wasn't true- not to lay hands on the odd object. 

'It's just a kids toy...' Veronica sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than convince Archie. 'A little stuffed animal.'

'Your eyes play trick on you in this light. In old houses. When you look at any old toys for long enough, they end up looking evil.'

'Yeah...' Veronica took Archie's hand tighter than she had before as they headed out of the room.

Downstairs, a wave of sudden nausea washed over Betty as she stood in the hall, reliving her brush with death- what had possessed her? Was she crazy? Trust her to be the one to pick up Satan's teddy bear. God.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice above her head. On a high-up shelf, a heavy stone bust teetered forward, as though pushed by an unseen hand. 

Luckily, Jughead was there. He heard something that wasn't the wind or a mystery creak (sounds far more frightening now than they had any right to be) and looked up just in time to push Betty out of the way of the heavy stone about to land on her head. Great, She thought, Just when I'd stopped shaking. 

'You okay? Betts?' Jughead rushed to help her up. 'Sorry I pushed you so hard.' 

'I wouldn't call it pushing, Jug. I'd call it saving my ass again. Thanks.' They moved away from the shelf, suddenly distrustful of the other busts that suddenly seemed to frown down at them.

'Damn uneven shelves in these old houses.' Jug smiled half-heartedly. He also sounded like he was trying to convince himself that there was any reason to what they'd seen Betty do. 'You sure you're feeling okay, Betty? Your... Darkness hasn't gotten any worse?'

'I'm not going to try throwing myself out of a window anytime soon, Jug.' Betty hugged herself and glanced at the floor. 'At least... Not of my own free will.'

'Old houses make everyone crazy. Let's just go- ah!' Jughead had opened the front door to find an old man there, staring at him as though he'd been waiting for quite some time. 

His face was old and tanned from what were probably many days in the sun. He wore a green jacket and an old sunhat that cast a dark shadow over his eyes. Yet, behind his white moustache Betty could see him smiling kindly. 'Hello. Are you Miss Lodge?'

'I am.' -That was Veronica, who puffed her way down the stairs now, with Archie in tow. 'And you are?' 

'Ben. I live in the boathouse at the foot of the cliffs.'

Jughead and Betty exchanged a look. 'So what are you doing here?' Do you know something we should know? Jughead bit back the question as his girlfriend shot him a warning glance. 

'It's my home! Used to have a nicer room, up in this house, but then the Mistress died, and... *She* came...'

'She?' Veronica tried to sound unperturbed by the dark look on Ben's face as he began to recount his memories:

'Miss Evelyn! Cold eyes, but a tongue of syrup, on that woman! Easy on the eyes, too- looked as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth! Oh, but she was a bad one. Worst of the worst, if you ask me.' 

'Who was she?' Jughead asked, cocking his head to the side and squeezing Betty's hand reassuringly. 

'When the Mistress died, she was taken on as governess for Miss Nancy... Poor little Miss Nancy...' Something sad came into his eyes, a bitterness taking over his voice as he continued, 'The minute she came into the house, she had her eyes set on the Master, she did! She had all the power she needed to fix him, too. She was in cahoots with the king of below, you see- I know 'cause I saw her performing those strange black rites up on the cliffs, you see? But, my Master, he cared too much for Miss Nancy to give Evelyn any second glances, y'see? ...That was when she brought that... That thing into the house! Little Miss Nancy held it, and her eyes turned hollow!'

'What.. What thing did she bring into the house?' Jughead was frowning again. Betty was pale and Veronica's hand was gripping Archie's in a vicelike grip. Of all the houses she'd brought her friends to visit, it had to be the haunted one they went to, didn't it?

'The bear. Looks innocent enough, but it's the Devil's plaything, y'see? Little Miss Nancy was there in body, oh yes, but not in mind- not in spirit! Nobody could get the blasted thing off of her, no matter how hard we pried!'

'What- Ben... What happened to Nancy? Where is she now?' Betty stuttered, her face grave. Her fingernails would have been leaving little half-moons in her palms if it wasn't for Jughead's hands in hers to stop her. 

Ben's eyes threatened to spill tears as his gaze hardened on something that had happened long ago. 'It was a terrible night. Stormy, much like it's going to be tonight, you see, and when the servants went up to rouse Little Miss Nancy- they couldn't find her. We all looked- goodness knows we looked- but all anyone ever found was that blasted bear, right on the edge of the cliff. Smiling at the sky. It knew what it had done, you ask me. The Master left not that long after, and never returned.'

'That's horrible!' Veronica gasped. 'What about Miss Evelyn?'

'Gone as well. For all I know, she vanished back to hell in a puff of smoke. No-one missed her.' Ben shrugged. 'Anyway, I'm sure you're not interested in ghost stories. Let's look towards happier times, shall we? Your father told me you'd be here today. Said to give you the keys.' With that, Ben produced a large metal ring of old and rusted keys, which Veronica accepted. 

Ben turned to leave, but it was to everyone's surprise that Betty followed after him. Her arms were bent at the elbow, and her eyes were glazed over once more. Jughead's own eyes widened as he saw what she was holding- 'Oh, shit!'

'She's headed for the cliffs!' Ben cried, turning at Jughead's exclamation. Betty sped up, not quite walking but not quite running either. The black eyes of the teddy in her arms glinted, even in the lack of sunlight. 

Like Little Nancy, eyes glazed and lifeless, Betty was heading for death at the cliff's edge.

'Grab her!' Veronica shouted. The boys didn't have to be told twice. Jughead sprinted just as Betty began running towards the cliff's edge, screaming for Betty to stop. 

With inches to spare, he and Archie caught up to her and pulled her back, shaking the bear out of her arms and watching it plummet into the waters below. Betty was unconscious for a terrifying moment, before she blinked again, and her eyes were back to normal. Jughead hugged her and let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. 'Thank god.' 

He held her at arms length, studying her face. 'You okay, Betty? You sure, this time?'

She nodded. 'I hope so. I feel... weaker.'

He smiled slightly. 'Well, hey! I'm no expert in demonically posessed teddy bears, but I'm pretty sure that's normal!' He kissed her on the cheek as the limousine engine started behind them- Veronica was waving them over. 

'Yeah, let's just forget about Satan's playthings and get back to Riverdale, shall we?' Betty smiled weakly.

She fell asleep on Jughead's shoulder on the ride home, but not before the group made one final decision:

Never go anywhere Mr Lodge invited them ever again.


End file.
